Disneyland-how many days?

[DeeEast]

We're going to be in L.A. for a week. We want to visit with relatives, see other sights in the city, and go to LegoLand. We were planning on gettin a 3 day park-hopper so that we wouldn't have to worry as much about not spending the entire day from dawn to closing with 3 small (read: twin 3.5 year olds and a 5.5 year old) children. But its soooo expensive, even with the on-line specials.

If we just figured on spending one day there at Disneyland (and not California Adventure) we would save a ton of $$. BTW, this idea just occurred to us tonight when we looked at ticket prices and realized that we may not even end up going to California Adventure. We're staying in the Valley (not at a hotel but with relatives) if that makes any difference.

[SnuggleBuggles]

You could get by with a one day pass, imo. We did. We only had one day budgeted to be there so we had to make it work! We stayed down the street and got to the park about an hour after it opened. We were able to walk on rides (or wait max. 5-10 minutes) for the first 2 hours because most people were waiting in line for Nemo already. We just decided to skip Nemo and had the run of the place. :) We did stay quite late, but that had been my plan. Ds was 5yo and hung in there perfectly fine (and no stroller, I should mention). I just planned for the next day to be a total relaxation day. Do you have any activities- like the pool, beach or hang with your relatives- you could do the day after so you know you can get revived?

We won passes to CA Adventure when we were there. We had opted not to get a park hopper. However, it was really nice to go over there. We went around dinner and the food lines were much shorter, as were ride lines. It was a nice change of pace. There are a lot more shows over there so if you think people might want a break then it could be nice to have those 1 day park hopper tickets.

I wouldn't get a 3 day pass. JMO. Just prioritize. It's just Disney. There are so many other cool things to do and see that you don't have to spend half of your vacation there. :)

Have fun at Legoland! My hard core rider was kind of bored with the rides but really enjoyed the water play area. He still had fun on the rides but know that they are very tame and might not be worth the line. ymmv

Beth

[Tondi G]

When are you going? Right now till June I believe they have a ca residents two fer ticket... you get 2 tickets for the price of one... but you need a CA ID. If family member who are local will be going with you they could buy the two few tickets!

I think you could easily do with a one day pass to Disneyland... you might not see everything buy you'll have a good time none the less! We have annual passes and we enjoy the CA adventure for the reasons mentioned above... usually the lines are shorter... when DL is really busy we hop over to the CA and the kids have a blast there too. The muppets 3D show, check out the Redwood creek challenge to let the kids run off some steam, Soarin over California, Toys Story Mania. If you like Roller Coasters then you have to ride California Screamin... it is SO smooth! We were there on Friday and we spent most of the day at DL and then went over to the CA. As we stood in line for toy story mania DH said to me... we need to plan a day to come down and just visit the California Adventure... haven't done that in a while.

One word of advise would be to go mid week if you can manage it. the crowds should be lighter... but there is no guarantee! Some days when we assume things will be mellow we find DL is packed ... you just never know I guess! Know what rides you want to ride, use the fast pass system and try to have a good time.

Oh and Legoland is fun too. Make sure you bring bathing suits and towels for the water area!

[new_mommy25]

Last time we did DL we only did one day, no park hopping. We had a ton of fun but we didn't get to see and do everything. There were a few rides, like It's a small world, that we didn't even bother with because the lines were outrageous. So I guess you should just decide how much you actually want to do. If you get a good game plan down then I think one day is enough.

We are doing Lego Land as well. If you're not already members you may want to look into getting the Brickmaster plan for $40. Every other month they send a new lego set. My 5 year old loves it!! You also get a free ticket to Lego Land and every Brickmaster magazine has a buy one adult get a child free coupon. There is also a lady over on the Dis Boards who is giving away the coupons for free if you send here a SASE. It's in the So Cal Theme Parks forum.

[Karenn]

I think it all depends on how much you enjoy Disneyland. ;) We had a 4 day park hopper and still didn't think it was long enough. One of the reasons we got more days though, is the reason you mentioned. We didn't spend *all day* from dawn to dusk at the park. We went at opening, stayed through mid afternoon and then went back to the hotel for an early dinner and bed. If you really wanted to do a marathon day, you probably could. I'm not familiar enough with California to know where "the valley" is, but if going more than one day meant a lot of driving to and from the park, that would be enough to discourage me.

[bubbaray]

I think it all depends on how much you enjoy Disneyland. ;) We had a 4 day park hopper and still didn't think it was long enough. One of the reasons we got more days though, is the reason you mentioned. We didn't spend *all day* from dawn to dusk at the park. We went at opening, stayed through mid afternoon and then went back to the hotel for an early dinner and bed. If you really wanted to do a marathon day, you probably could. I'm not familiar enough with California to know where "the valley" is, but if going more than one day meant a lot of driving to and from the park, that would be enough to discourage me.


:yeahthat:

[spunkybaby]

We also had a 4-day parkhopper and loved it. I actually think I would have liked to have one more day at DL. We took everything slow and enjoyed not rushing around or feeling like we had to do everything in one day. Having a multiday ticket also meant that if we liked a ride, we could go back on it another day. My DDs loved It's a Small World; we rode it multiple times. On our last day, we came out of Alice in Wonderland, and DD2 looked up at me and said, "Small World? One more time? Okay?" :)

It was also nice to be able to go to California Adventure, especially since we went to the princess meal at Ariel's Grotto. The Aladdin show was a lot of fun too!

The price difference between the 3 and 4-day parkhoppers was very small, so it was definitely worth it to us to buy the extra days.

[DeeEast]

We also had a 4-day parkhopper and loved it. I actually think I would have liked to have one more day at DL. We took everything slow and enjoyed not rushing around or feeling like we had to do everything in one day. Having a multiday ticket also meant that if we liked a ride, we could go back on it another day. My DDs loved It's a Small World; we rode it multiple times. On our last day, we came out of Alice in Wonderland, and DD2 looked up at me and said, "Small World? One more time? Okay?" :)

It was also nice to be able to go to California Adventure, especially since we went to the princess meal at Ariel's Grotto. The Aladdin show was a lot of fun too!

The price difference between the 3 and 4-day parkhoppers was very small, so it was definitely worth it to us to buy the extra days.

Right now their special is that you for the price of the 3 day park hopper you actually get 5 days. I'm leaning that direction at the moment.

[bubbaray]

I think 5 days would be fine, though we did 3 days and it worked really well with my girls (ages 2 and 5). My previous post in this thread was actually from the park!

[spanannie]

oops--I was meaning to respond to my DisneyLand thread! Sorry!